How to create WooCommerce coupon codes: a beginner’s guide

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Are you struggling to keep customers engaged and coming back to your WooCommerce store, and looking for unique discount codes WooCommerce solutions? Are you frustrated by high cart abandonment rates and low customer retention? If so, you’re not alone. Many online store owners face the challenge of attracting and retaining customers in today’s competitive e-commerce landscape.

There’s a powerful solution that can help you overcome these obstacles: WooCommerce coupon codes. By strategically using unique coupon codes at different stages of the customer journey, you can drive awareness, increase conversions, encourage repeat purchases, and reactivate lapsed customers.

WooCommerce store owners can already integrate with Omnisend and benefit from powerful, ecommerce-focused automation features, but now you can go even further with the ability to add unique coupon codes to your emails automatically. In this article we explore how to leverage WooCommerce coupon codes for various goals and audiences and how they can significantly boost your store’s sales. 

What are WooCommerce coupon codes?

WooCommerce coupon codes are a powerful tool for increasing sales and building customer loyalty in your online store. These coupon codes are specifically designed to work with the WooCommerce platform, allowing you to offer incentives to your customers. When a customer enters a WooCommerce coupon code during the checkout process, they receive a discount on their purchase, similar to using a physical coupon in a brick-and-mortar store.

There are various types of WooCommerce coupon codes you can create, depending on your marketing strategy and goals. Some common types include:

1. Percentage discount: Customers receive a specific percentage off their total purchase
2. Fixed cart discount: A fixed amount is subtracted from the total order value
3. Fixed product discount: A fixed amount is deducted from the price of a specific product or products
4. Free shipping: Customers receive free shipping on their order when using the coupon code

WooCommerce allows you to create coupon codes that can be used by multiple customers or unique codes for individual customers. While codes that can be used by multiple people work well, there is a risk of the code being shared. This makes it difficult to track the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns and potentially costs you more money than intended.

Different types of discount codes

Let’s take a quick look at the different types of discount codes that can be leveraged by ecommerce brands:

1. Percentage-based discount codes: These generate discounts as a percentage of the total order value (such as 5% off, 10% off, etc.)
2. Fixed amount discount codes: These provide a fixed amount of discount, no matter what the value of the order is (such as $20 off, $50 off, etc.)
3. Free shipping discount codes: These coupons provide no discounts on the value of the order but strike off any delivery or shipping fees for the customer
4. BOGO (Buy One, Get One Free) discount codes: These provide an additional item for free at the same price as the first (or sometimes, the higher priced) item of two
5. Tiered discounts: These discounts increase as the value of the order increases. For example, 10% off on $200 purchases, 20% off on $400 purchases, and so on
6. Time-based discounts: These discount coupons are only valid for a specific time period, such as during Black Friday, or Christmas week, New Year’s Eve, and so on

These are just a few of the most common discount types used by ecommerce brands. For your brand, you must evaluate your unique requirements, the stage at which the customer is, the level of familiarity they have with your brand, and decide which coupon to promote accordingly.

Here’s a quick example of an email with a welcome offer for customers:

Benefits of using WooCommerce coupon codes

WooCommerce coupon codes offer several advantages for online store owners looking to increase sales, attract new customers, and foster loyalty among existing clients. Well-crafted coupon code strategies allow you to tap into the power of incentives to drive more traffic and conversions to your WooCommerce store. While there are some potential drawbacks to consider, such as the perception that your prices are not “real” if you offer discounts too frequently, when used strategically, the benefits often outweigh the risks.

Here are some of the benefits of unique discount codes for both customers and merchants:

The benefits of unique discount codes for customers

1. Increased savings: Discount codes are the best way for customers to save a small amount during their purchases. When used cumulatively over time, these discount codes can end up saving a lot of money for customers.
2. New product/brand discovery: Often, customers discover the benefits and value propositions of a brand because the brand is offering a discounted purchase. This prompts customers to make purchases they might never have made otherwise, and directly benefits new brands who wish to be known.
3. Personalized shopping experiences: Discount codes let the customer know that you are aware of their needs and requirements, and that you want them to have the best possible experience. Such a personalized experience increases positive sentiments from the customer towards your brand and increases chances of a conversion.

The benefits of unique discount codes for businesses

1. Improved customer loyalty: Discount codes can remind customers that your brand offers valuable products, and incentivize them to make a purchase if they haven’t made one in a long time. At the same time, if repeat customers are provided a unique discount code, they feel more valued and loyal towards the brand.
2. Insights into customer behavior: Track how discount codes improve ecommerce sales, how customers use the codes, and which use cases benefit them the most. Once you have gathered and understood all this data, you’ll have an increased understanding of consumer behavior, which you can use to personalize your future campaigns.

How to create coupon codes in WooCommerce

Creating coupon codes in WooCommerce is a straightforward process that can help boost sales and attract new customers to your online store. WooCommerce, a popular ecommerce plugin for WordPress, offers built-in functionality for creating and managing coupon codes, also known as discount codes.

To get started, make sure that you have enabled the use of coupon codes in your WooCommerce store. You can do this by navigating to WooCommerce > Settings > General and checking the “Enable the use of coupon codes” option.

Once enabled, follow these steps to create a new coupon code:

1. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Marketing > Coupons

2. Click the “Add Coupon” button to create a new WooCommerce coupon code

3. Enter a unique code in the “Coupon Code” field. You can either create your own code or use the built-in generator to create a random one

4. Select the discount type (percentage discount, fixed cart discount, or fixed product discount) and enter the coupon amount

5. If desired, set an expiration date for the coupon code

6. Configure usage restrictions, such as minimum spend, product inclusions or exclusions, and allowed email addresses

7. Set usage limits, such as the maximum number of times the coupon can be used in total or per user

8. Click “Publish” to activate the WooCommerce discount code

After creating the coupon code, you can share it with your customers through various marketing channels, such as email campaigns, social media, or targeted ads. Customers can then apply the coupon code during the checkout process to receive the discount.

To apply a WooCommerce coupon code, customers simply enter the code in the designated field in the cart or on the checkout page. The discount will be applied automatically, and the updated total will be displayed.

By leveraging WooCommerce’s coupon code functionality, you can create targeted promotions, encourage customer loyalty, and drive more sales for your online store. Experiment with different types of coupons and promotional strategies to find what works best for your business and target audience.

Create WooCommerce coupon codes with Omnisend

To create unique discount codes with Omnisend for your WooCommerce store, follow the steps below:

1. Enable your discount code

Before you begin, ensure that your unique codes will only work with the unique discounts enabled in your WordPress admin area. Update the Omnisend plugin manually under the Plugins tab if it isn’t set to “Auto-update.”

To enable unique discount codes, go to your WordPress admin area and open your Omnisend plugin. A banner will prompt you to click “Enable unique discounts.” Click “Approve” in the pop-up window to manage coupons, products, customers, orders, and sales reports.

2. Create the discount code campaign

To create a unique discount code campaign in Omnisend, create an email campaign and add a unique discount block to it. You can choose from various discount types, including fixed amounts, percentage discounts, or free shipping and set expiration dates without inputting a single line of code.

When you add the unique discount content lock to your email campaign, a unique discount code will be generated for that campaign, ensuring that all campaign recipients receive the same discount code. The code will be automatically inserted from your store’s admin area once the campaign is sent.

In the WooCommerce admin area, the discount code will be displayed under Marketing > Coupons. By clicking “Edit” under the code, you’ll see general settings, usage restrictions, and usage limits for the generated code.

3. Use unique discount codes in your Omnisend workflows

You can also use unique discount codes in Omnisend automation workflows. For example, create a workflow that automatically sends a unique discount code to customers who abandon their carts.

If you add the discount content block to your automation, each email will include a custom, unique discount code for each recipient. Although you won’t be able to send a reminder for the same code, you can set the expiration date for the discount equal to the delay between messages.

Omnisend simplifies the process by allowing you to create an email, drag the discount block into it, and automatically generate and sync the code to your store without manual input or backend tinkering. You have full control over expiration dates and discount types.

Troubleshooting tips:

• Ensure that the permalink settings in your WordPress admin area are set to “Post name” instead of the default permalink
• If you encounter a “consumer data” error message, go to WooCommerce > Status > Tools, scroll down, and click the “Verify database” button next to the “Verify base database tables” section. Then, return to the Omnisend page and click “Enable unique discounts” again
• Contact your hosting provider to ensure that your store’s WooCommerce Rest API is accessible from the outside and that tools such as CloudFlare are not interfering with requests to these endpoints

By following these steps, you can easily create and manage WooCommerce coupon codes and discount codes and learn how to create a coupon code in WooCommerce using Omnisend’s user-friendly platform.

Tips for using unique discount codes effectively

Here are some tips for using discount codes effectively:

1. Sending unique discount codes to the right audience
   With Omnisend, you can make use of advanced segmentation tactics to group your customers based on their behavior and actions. Once this is done, you can create different unique discount codes for each audience and send those accordingly. For example, for a Gen Z audience, you can send unique discount codes with Black Friday discounts on electronic products. At the same time, for older customers, you could send a unique discount code for a Christmas Day sale on senior care products.
2. Personalize your unique discount codes
   Once you’ve segmented your customers, you know what their needs and expectations are. Remember to personalize your unique discount codes accordingly, by tailoring it to their specific preferences, promoting products of their interest, and even matching it to festivals or holidays they enjoy.
3. Make your discount codes exclusive
   This is one of the most important aspects of creating a unique discount code. Remember to make sure that it can’t be used more than once. If you don’t do this, your discount code can be circulated to audiences that are beyond your target, and this can result in heavy discounting that creates more losses than profits.
4. Set a time limit for your discount codes
   Setting time limits for unique discount codes creates a sense of urgency which prompts customers to use it at the earliest possible. If you don’t set a time limit, customers might postpone acting on the coupon, and ultimately forget about it completely.
5. Promote your unique discount codes on social media and via your email campaigns
   This is a key aspect of any unique discount code: you need to utilize every available channel to promote your coupon. This includes a plug on your social media channels, asking customers to share their experiences with the coupon, and even adding a shoutout in your regular email campaigns.

Wrap up

WooCommerce coupon codes are a game-changer for online store owners looking to drive more sales, attract new customers, and foster loyalty. By understanding how to create a coupon in WooCommerce and leveraging the power of WooCommerce discount codes, you can dramatically increase your store’s revenue. Our beginner’s guide has walked you through the process of creating and managing WooCommerce coupon codes effectively.

The key to success lies in using unique discount codes strategically. Segment your audience, personalize your coupons, make them exclusive, set time limits, and promote them across your social media and email campaigns. By following these tips and utilizing Omnisend’s user-friendly platform, you can unlock the full potential of WooCommerce coupon codes and take your online store to new heights.